Blindsided
by PoisnousPixie
Summary: Alyssa was walking home, when she spotted the child. When she saves his life, she finds herself stuck in the Naruto World, only 5 yrs after Kyuubi's death, she has to figure out what happened to the kid, and how to get home, without altering the plot.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I own Alyssa, and Shizuka... that's about it...

**Characters: **OCs  
**Rating:** G  
**Word Count:** 2,307  
**Auther Notes: **Wow... I really shouldn't be posting this... I know I shouldn't, but I really, really like this, and since I've recently been stuck on reading OCs from our world getting stuck in Naruto, that haven't been horribly, horribly flamed, maybe I'll get lucky?

* * *

The sound of Barenaked Ladies filled her head, she hummed along with the song, and walked on the metal rail of the train tracks. Her cellphone told her it was around 2pm, which meant that the train had already passed, and she could simply walk the half-mile home on the tracks, without worrying about getting hit by a speeding train, or a car on the nearby streets.

The book in her hand was, the 4th volume of Naruto, she was already half way through it. In her bag, sat another four volumes, all waiting to be touched. Sometimes, living in walking distance to a library, had it's ups. Even if she could only get the first twenty-two volumes at the local library, and would have to order the others. She supposed that was okay, since this was really the first time she'd actually read the manga. She had read up to volume four on the Internet, and then decided she'd rather hold the book in her hands. Having watched the anime, she knew a lot of what happened, and with her skill for finding spoilers, she usually had a basic knowledge of what was going on in current Naruto issues. But it was always good to be able to back up your facts, right?

Her phone vibrated in her pocket, dragging her attention from Zabuza getting yelled at by Naruto, and causing her to pause. She slid her headphones off, tucked the book between her arm and body, then turned off her iPod. She pulled the phone out, and flipped it open, "Smeet?"

"Where are you?" Came her mother's slightly aggravated voice.

Alyssa was quiet for a moment, and glanced around. "About... three blocks from home?"

"Are Leah and Alexis still with you?"

"No, I got them to drop me off at the library, I should be home in about ten minutes, give or take a few minutes."

Silence fell, and she waited a bit impatiently for her mother to give the okay. It was a well known fact that Alyssa's mother hated it when she walked home, but she usually allowed it, if Alyssa had her pocket knife with her. Luckily, Alyssa kept it in her bag, away from sight, and still in reach.

"I'll be waiting." Her mother replied, "See you soon."

"Smeet, Mama,"

"Smeet."

Alyssa smiled, and closed the phone. She looked up to see just how far from the road she was. It was closer than she had thought, and she was about to put her phone away, and pull her headphones back on, when she noticed a child on the tracks up ahead.

She hadn't seen him before, but after a simple blink, he seemed to just appear. Her eyes widened, as she watched the kid, who looked about three or four, walking towards the road. His appearance was a bit shabby, like a neglected child on some news special. He wore a baggy dingy shirt that may have once been turquoise in color, and a pair of black shorts. It all seemed to hang off of his body. He was barefoot, and his hair was a shocking dark green.

She couldn't believe anyone would let their child leave the house dressed like that. It was the middle of November, and December was coming fast. The chill in the air kept even her in warm hoodie, and she didn't normally start wearing her hoodie constantly until December was nearly passed.

She walked quietly behind the kid, taking note of the fact that he was maybe a full block ahead of her. As she slowly got closer, she noticed something red on his leg, dripping down. Her eyes widened, and she picked up her pace. "Hey!" She said, trying to get his attention.

It worked. The child paused for a moment, then took off running. She picked up her pace a bit, he was limping a bit, so he didn't move to quickly. It wasn't until he was off the tracks, and stopped at the road, that she began to worry. The red was definitely blood, she noted, hurrying even more.

The sound of a car coming hit her ears, and all the child did was turn to look at it.

"Kid, get out of the road!" She shouted, her legs beginning to burn as she forced her legs to move faster than she was used too. Her bag pounding against her side, arms pumping at her sides. She could hear the car horn beeping, but it didn't seem like the car was actually slowing down.

She got to the road at breakneck speed, snatched the child up in her arms, still moving, and could see the car, something big and bright red, out of the corner of her eye. Her legs took her off the road, and she tripped when her foot got caught in one of the wooden planks between the metal rails. She felt herself falling, the child had started to cry and scream, and she could hear the car screeching to a stop. Her eyes squeezed shut, waiting for impact with the ground. She turned her body as much as she could to try and land on her back or at least her side, instead of on the child.

When she finally hit, she felt grass and soft ground cushioning her fall. It was frighteningly different from what she had expected. Wood, and stones, and possibly even the metal of the railing. She also took note of the fact that she couldn't hear the car. She hadn't heard a door slam, and now she didn't hear the sound that should signify someone coming towards her.

She opened her eyes, and started to get up. The child was clinging to her, his face buried into her t-shirt. "Are you okay?" She asked him, one hand resting on his back.

He started to cry.

Her eyes widened. Carefully, she managed to slide him off of her, and sat him in the grass. He didn't move from where she sat him, just kept crying, hands rubbing at his eyes and nose.

She took the moment to look down at his leg, and try and assess the damage. There was a slightly jagged cut on his calf, it didn't look too deep. She turned her attention back to the fact that he was crying and sobbing. "Shhh, it's okay, calm down," She tried to soothe him. She made cooing sounds, and pulled his hands away from his face, wiping away tears and snot, "Shhh,"

Slowly, his crying subsided, and he looked up at her. She gasped, as she realized he was blind. His eyes were a milky color, unseeing and void of light. His face was all scrunched up, and a soft whimper escaped his lips.

"Oh, shhh, it's okay." She used the sleeve of her hoodie to wipe his face, and gave a smile, even though she realized he couldn't see it.

Suddenly, he began to talk, rapidly in a language she couldn't speak, but did recognize. He spoke Japanese, and from the sound of, he spoke it quite fluently. Though she didn't know much, she could easily recognize a few words that any anime fan would pick up. Mother, father, 'desu'. Finally he said a word that seemed to not fit with the rest of his tirade. Of course, she barely caught it, "hebi", which she knew meant snake.

She tried to figure out how the word snake could go along with mother or father. Desu was such a commonly heard word in Japanese, she didn't bother to place it. After a few minutes of pondering, she decided she really couldn't figure it out, and the few possibilities that came to her, wouldn't really be of much use to her in that moment.

She waited until he had calmed down a bit, "Daijobu," (Okay) She told him, hoping it would help him a bit, and he just sniffled. He didn't start crying again, which was an improvement. She took this time, to open her bag and pulled out some things. This was one of those times she was glad that she always over packed. There was an un-opened bottle of water, with several of those little flavor-packets, now she opened the bottle. She used her pocket knife to tear her spare t-shirt into strips, thanking god that she had been on her way from a sleep over. She wet a few of the strips of clothe, and began to clean the wound.

The boy shrieked, and tried to get away from her, but she grabbed his leg, and made more cooing sounds to try and calm him. "Daijobu, daijobu."(It's okay, it's okay) She told him, "I have to clean it, and wrap it up, it could get infected, please stay still." She knew he couldn't understand her, but she hoped her words would be enough to calm him at least a little. "Matte, kudasai." (Wait, please) This was one of the very few phrases she knew, and it spilled out of her mouth finally, when she remembered it.

It worked better than anything else. He stilled.

Being more careful than before, Alyssa tipped the bottle over, letting it fall onto the wound, then wrap it. Suddenly, the first aid classes she'd taken, were very helpful. She just wish she'd remembered more from them.

When she was finished, she gave him a pat on his shoulder, and began to put what was left of her shirt back in her bag. The bottle was almost empty, but she didn't know if she need the little bit of water left, so she added it to her supply of things. Her eyes drifted back to the boy, who was sniffling, as his fingers gingerly ran along the make-shift bandage on his leg.

"Dare desu ka?"(who are you?) She asked him, when he only glanced up in her general direction, she reached out. She took his hand gently in hers, and moved his fingers around so he was pointing at her, "Alyssa," She then made him point to himself, "Anata ka?" (You?)

For a moment, silence fell, and she was forced to repeat the motions. Finally, he responded, "Shizuka."

She smiled, and let go of his hand. She closed her bag, and slung it back over her side, "Konichi wa, Shizuka-chan." (Hello, Shizuka.) She helped him to his feet, and brushed off his baggy clothes, "Now, let's figure out where we are. Ne, Shizuka-chan?" She grasped his hand, and finally started to look around.

They were in a forest, that much was obvious, and she had a feeling that it was at least late spring. Everything was green, and it was warm. Her hoodie was no longer needed here, she slid it down so it didn''t cover her shoulders. "Okay, well, we're not in Kansas anymore," She stated sarcastically.

"Nani?" (what?) Came the quiet whisper of Shizuka's voice.

She gave him a smile, even though he couldn't see it, and gripped his hand tighter for a second, "Nothing." She responded, but he just gave a confused look. "Ikou." (Let's go)

His face scrunched up for a moment, he didn't seem like he was going to move.

"Ano..."(Um...) She froze, and chewed her lip, "Aruite?" She asked, hoping she was getting the word right. It was supposed to be 'walk', but she didn't know if she was getting that one right.

Finally, he nodded, and walked with her. His steps were a bit hesitant, and he still limped. She was tempted to pick him up, but she didn't know how well he'd take that. So instead, she settled for just walking as slowly as she could. He clung to her hand, and stayed as close as possible to her side.

She felt like she was ordering a dog around, and wondered if he got that feeling too. She supposed he did, anyone would, no matter how young... Okay, so maybe he would think it was a game, she always did when she was little. But that didn't mean it couldn't be taken as an insult, right?

She sighed, and just kept walking. It didn't seem like anything was changing. Just trees and trees. There was no sign of the forest ending, and she feared that she may have been turned around some how. After a while, Shizuka started to slow even more, and finally, he stopped completely. She stopped as well, "What's wrong?" She asked him, then nearly hit herself, realizing he wouldn't know what that meant.

He tugged her hand, and put his other up. A motion she knew all to well, cause she herself used to use it, and her toddler cousin used it now. _Pick me up._ Sighing, she lifted the child into her arm, and balanced him against her right hip, opposite of her bag.

It wasn't until the sun started to go down, that she began to give up hope of finding a way out of the forest. She stopped walking, feet aching, and her shoulder hurting from the weight of her bag, her arms from the boy's weight. She was done for the day.

She shifted the boy, and let him slide down to stand on the ground, then sat down. Her back rested against a tree, and she pulled the boy to her. She set him between her legs, and wrapped her arms around him, letting her head fall back against the tree. "We'll rest for a while, okay?"

He struggled for a minute to get up, but stopped eventually, and just sat still in her arms. Soon, he was leaning back against her, breathing deep, and fast asleep.

She just sat there, staring up into the canopy of trees, seeing only the vague outline of branches and leaves. Sleep slowly claimed her, and it was welcomed.

_**To Be Continued.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I own my OCs and my plot... that's about it...

**Characters: **OCs, Tsunade  
**Rating:** G  
**Word Count:** 2,773

* * *

The night was long, and though she woke up several times, she kept making herself fall back asleep. At some point, she'd managed to get her hoodie off, and covered Shizuka with it, when she felt him shivering.

At another point, she searched through her bag blindly, hoping to feel her cell phone. It wasn't there. She silently cursed herself, because she realized she'd probably dropped it, and the manga she'd been reading, when she had run to save Shizuka. Well, at least she still had her iPod, she thought sarcastically.

That she took off, and put in her bag. It would be safer there, besides, the headphones were hurting her neck...

Three times, in the night, she woke to hear Shizuka crying and whimpering. These times left her hazy mind at a lost for what to do. So she would cuddle him closer, and rub his back, and make cooing sounds. The third, and last time, he woke up, she actually sang. She wasn't sure what song it was, and she knew she got the words wrong, but it was soft, and calmed him down.

When morning finally came, she felt like she hadn't slept at all. However, she was glad, when she realized it was the sound of people talking that had woken her. It was a welcome sound, and in fact, for a minute or two she thought it was the TV. Of course, the idea that it was the TV and the whole thing had been a dream, was shot, when she realized she was sitting up, and her back was against something hard, not the softness of a chair or couch. She could also feel a child pressed against her front, curled up and sleeping.

She was reluctant to open her eyes, but as she remembered every detail of what had happened the day before, she knew she had no choice but to get up as quickly as possible. If there were people around, it would be in her best interest to find them, and ask for help, not that she was sure how much help they would be, if it turned out none of them spoke English.

It would really, really suck if it turned out all of them spoke only Japanese, but the sinking feeling in her gut told her just that. So as she rubbed at her eyes, and slowly forced herself into a more lucid state, she found herself pleading mentally that they spoke her language.

She was hesitant to leave at first, since she hated the idea of bothering the child that slept against her. But what had to be done, had to be done. She put off waking him, and carefully opened her bag, and dug through it to find her Japanese-English Dictionary, just in case. Then, carefully, she shook Shizuka's arm, and spoke to him in quiet, cooing words that she knew he wouldn't understand, but that might help him come too.

It took longer than she would like, for him to open his eyes to the world around him, and despite the knowledge that he couldn't see, she was glad that he had done so, otherwise she wasn't sure how to know if he was awake or not.

"Ikou," She told him, lifting him up to his feet, and then standing herself. She took her hoodie and tied it around her waist, then stretched the kinks out of her back. Sleeping in a sitting position against a tree? Not a good idea.

He didn't seem interested in the idea of moving. The moment she'd stood, he'd plopped back down to sit, being very careful about his injured leg. He sat on the ground, blinking and rubbing his eyes. She ended up having to pick him up, and carry him. He didn't struggle, instead, he wrapped his arms around her neck, and rested his head on her shoulder. After a moment or two, she figured he'd probably fallen back asleep.

So as he slept, she picked her way through the forest, following the sound of voices that seemed to get farther and farther away from her. She picked up the pace a bit, when she thought for a minute they had disappeared, but then smiled as she heard them again.

Finally, after what felt like hours later, she came out of the forest and onto a road. She didn't see any one on the road, but she could still hear them. She shouted out, "Hello?!"

No response came. She started to follow the road, and hoped to find whom ever had been talking, but it seemed that the voices had disappeared. No longer having anything to follow, she settled for just walking.

She followed the road for a long time, and eventually, Shizuka woke up. He didn't want down though, she worried that it was because of his leg, but when she asked, "Daijobu desu ka?" (Are you okay?) She just got a quiet 'daijobu' (okay) in response.

So she carried him as long as she could. It didn't take long before her stomach started growling, and her desire for food was evident. She felt dizzy and tired, and she could hear Shizuka's stomach growling as well. It was nice to know she wasn't the only one hungry, but it didn't help that the other person was a very young person. She wondered how old he was.

She'd always been horrible with guessing ages. He was obviously not to old. But he could be around six or seven? No. She didn't think so, he was so small, and he was rather clingy all of a sudden? That was probably in her head, she thought. After all, he was hurt, and alone, and she was the only other person around.

At what she guessed was noon, they finally seemed to find an end to the road. It opened into a huge clearing, at the end, seemed to be the drop off of a cliff, there was a railing. She picked up the pace a bit, now excited.

A town!

It was surrounded on most sides by cliffs, like someone had dug down and put the town there to hide it. It was familiar...

She frowned, trying to place where she'd seen it, but she just couldn't. After a few minutes of trying to place this town, her stomach growled, and Shizuka made a small whine of agreement. So, she followed the railing to a set of stairs.

It didn't take long before the two entered the town, and much to her pleasure, there were no guards or anything.

It seemed to be a tourist town, she noted. She was able to walk around for quite some time, before anyone took notice of her. Her stomach growled, as she walked by a stand that was selling something on a stick that smelled sweet. She chewed on her bottom lip, and wondered what was the possibility that they would take her money?

_Doubtful. _She thought,_ They probably use yen. _ This thought did not sit well with her, and she wondered if anyone would take pity on her, since she had an injured child on her?

With a shrug, she realized it was worth a try. Worst came to worst, she had bubble gum in her bag that she could use to stop her growling stomach, and maybe someone would just give some food for Shizuka?

She stopped at the stand, and stared at the food being made. It was dango, she thought, or, it looked like dango. She'd always wanted to try it. She bit down on her lip, and sniffed. Shizuka was sniffing the food too. They had to look rather weird, she thought, standing in front of this man's stand, sniffing his food.

In fact, the man behind the stand, seemed quite annoyed. He spoke to her, rapidly, and slightly angrily. She didn't understand any of it, but she could tell he was very, very agitated.

"Ah.. Nihongo ga, iie?" (Japanese, no.) She tried, and shrugged her shoulders slightly, "Eigo ga?" (English)

The man stared at her like she was an idiot. She had a feeling she probably looked like one. For a moment, she wished she'd taken her phrase book to her friend's house too. Since that was sadly not the case. She let Shizuka down to stand on his own, and put on hand on his shoulder, "Matte, kudasai." (Wait/stay, please)

When she got a nod from Shizuka, she turned her attention back to the man behind the stand, and made a motion for 'wait just a second,' with her hands. As soon as he nodded, still looking a bit annoyed, she began to go through her book. A dictionary was not meant for grammar, so she could only hope that her broken words could be translated into something recognizable. "Ano.... Watashi wa nihongo, nai?" (Um... I speak Japanese not?)

He stared at her, and she blushed.

She knew the word for 'don't understand', but couldn't remember it. She turned her attention back to the book, it didn't have 'don't understand', but the moment she saw the word understand, she remembered it. This was a moment where she was extremely grateful that her best friend had taken Japanese lessons, and had given her a few vocabulary words. Now if she could just recall them automatically? "Ah! Nihongo ga wakarimasen." (I don't understand Japanese)

The man gave her a really dry look, and said something she thought was probably meant something like "no, really? I didn't notice." It was just in his voice.

"Eigo ga-" (English-)

"Iie." (No.) He cut her off.

She frowned at him, he could have at least let her finish her attempt at asking him a question. She was getting the feeling they wouldn't get any charity from him. "Anata wa... tasukete, kudasai?" (You, help, please?)

"Iie."(No.) He replied, and motioned for her to move along.

"Onega-" (Pleas-)

"Iie."(No.) He cut her off again, with a tirade that she didn't understand, though she knew 'iie'.

Wincing at his yelling, her stomach clinching as she realized she wouldn't be able to get any food from him, she decided to stop trying. She put her dictionary in the side pocket of her bag, and lifted Shizuka up.

Shizuka asked her something, but she didn't know what it was. His stomach growled, though, so she had a feeling he was asking if they were going to eat.

She carried the boy, and wandered away from the clearly angry man. In her mind, she called the man a great many things that she wouldn't say aloud, even if no one could understand the words. After all, sometimes, the tone of voice was enough, and she didn't want to scare Shizuka more than she had too.

She decided that it was probably best not to try and talk again, until she'd managed to get an idea of what she needed to say. She found a bench, and sat there with Shizuka, setting her bag down by her feet. She watched people walk passed them, not even glancing in her direction, and couldn't help but worry about what to do now.

She glanced at the boy who was rubbing his stomach, and starting to whimper. She was worried that he might start to cry, and she didn't know what to do to keep that from happening. As it was, she was starting to feel like crying. Her legs were feeling weak, and she was slowly becoming aware of her appearance. She had slept in the woods last night, this was the third day in a row she'd worn these jeans, and her shirt was not clean. She knew her hair had to be tangled by now, and she was only mildly aware of the fact that she did still have a rubber band in it.

She bent over, hands dangling around her ankles, her resting against her knees. With her body folded like this, it was harder to breathe. She felt her mind get a bit hazy, then let herself straighten just enough to breathe. She stared down at her scuffed and worn out sneakers, as she tried to remember any Japanese phrases. Any at all.

_Watashi wa Green, Alyssa. _(My name is Alyssa Green)

_honto ka?_ (Really?)

_Oyasumi nasai._ (Good night)

_Daijobu desu ka? _(Are you okay?)

_Ogenki desu ka?_ (How are you?)

She didn't think these would be of much use right now. She felt Shizuka tugging on her arm, and looked up at him, without sitting up fully, "Hai?" (Yes?)

He said something, but it was quick, and she couldn't tell one word from another. She wanted to ask him to repeat slowly, but didn't know how. She picked up her dictionary, and flipped through it quickly, "Kurikaesu.... Osoku suru?" (Repeat that... slowly?)

The boy's face scrunched up, but he did as asked. "Onaka ga suite imasu."

She still didn't know what that meant. She knew imasu, but only as a word that went on the end of a sentence. Like desu, suru, or ka, she'd never really looked it up. She knew ka, was for the end of questions, and desu was a basic 'is, it' sort of word... sorta. She was pretty sure... "Matte, kudasai."(Wait, please)

She chose to ignore Shizuka's annoyed sigh, and started looking through her book.

Onaka: stomach. Onaka ga: be pregnant; or to be full.

She frowned, and decided it was probably the first one. She didn't think he was pregnant (though that would be an interesting twist to whatever sick plot she'd been put in the center of), and considering she hadn't eaten yet, and he'd been pretty much glued to her side, she didn't think he had been able to sneak anything. He was hungry. She didn't even try and translate the rest of his sentence, as she wasn't sure she'd heard it right anyway. "Hai." (Yes). She opened her book to look for the word for hungry, and frowned. There was his sentence. "Onaka ga suiteiru." (In need of food).

Okay, so maybe it wasn't exactly the same, it was close enough. She glared at her dictionary, not sure if she should think of it as being the enemy or her ally right now. She was about to open it, just so she could look up the actual word for food, when she heard a voice that sounded familiar. She couldn't place it, but she knew she had heard the voice before.

Looking up, she locked her eyes on the person she was hearing. Her eyes widened, as she realized just who it was.

Across the road, there was a blonde woman. She was facing away from Alyssa, but even from her back, Alyssa knew who she was. She supposed it had to do with the familiar green-over coat-thing with it's kanji. She didn't know what the kanji meant, she was pretty sure it was 'gamble', but couldn't be certain. Either way, she recognized it, and was caught between excited, and terrified.

Standing, she dropped her book, "Tsunade?" Her eyes were wide, and her hands shook. She felt Shizuka's hand still clutching at her arm, and his quiet _'nani?'_ (what?), but it went over her head. She fumbled to get through her bag, and find the manga she'd picked up from the library, only to find, much to her disappointment, they didn't go far enough that Tsunade had shown up. "Smeet!" She growled at herself, before closing her bag.

She slung the bag's strap over her shoulder, and hoisted Shizuka up into her arms. He gave a startled cry, and his arms wrapped tight around her throat. She barely noticed as she rushed towards the blonde woman.

The woman was staring up at the building before her, one hand clutching what looked like a purse. She was about to enter, when Alyssa reached her.

"Sumimasen!" (Excuse me!) Alyssa looked up at the woman, who turned slowly to look at her. She found herself gaping as she realized the woman really was Tsunade. The blonde Hokage from Naruto. The woman who was one of the best Medic's in the world, in Naruto. _Right here_, in front of her!

"Hai?"(Yes?) Tsunade stared down at her, looking a bit annoyed.

Alyssa gaped a few times, trying to get her mouth and voice to work in sync. Finally she managed to get her mind to catch up. "Tasuke, kudasai!" (Help, please!) She practically shouted, as she bowed low. The boy in her arms clutched at her tighter, nearly falling.

Tsunade just stood there staring at her. "Nani?" (What?)

_**To Be Continued.**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I own my OCs and my plot... that's about it...

**Characters: **Tsunade, OCs, Shizune  
**Rating:** G  
**Word Count:** 2,920

* * *

Tsunade and Shizune had arrived at Tanzaku two weeks sooner then they had originally planned, not that she was going to complain about it. She had dropped Shizune at a hotel, along with Ton-Ton, then had sneaked out, and had been wandering the town, excited. A tourist town, Tanzaku was prime gambling city! She could not wait to get started. She had just stopped for a moment, to ask for direction to a casino that had been recommended, when she heard the hurried footsteps coming her way.

"Excuse me!" A girl all but shouted, she had a very strange accent, one that Tsunade had never heard.

Wishing she could ignore the girl, and just go on her way, Tsunade slowly turned around to face the girl. She took in the girls appearance.

She had brown hair (that really needed brushed), pale skin. Her clothes were strange, a long-sleeve top that was far to warm for this weather, and dirty grass-stained pants. She held a child in her arms, a child that clearly looked malnourished, and seemed to be in need of a bath.

"Yes?" Tsunade asked, slowly. She had a feeling she could regret this. She wasn't calmed by the nervous, shocked look on the girl's face. The girl gaped at her several times, and Tsunade was tempted to turn away.

"Help, please!" The girl bowed low, and nearly seemed to drop the child.

"What?" Tsunade appraised the girl one more time, taking in the dirty appearance, and all, but couldn't see any reason the girl would want help. She turned her eyes to the child, and noticed the hot-pink fabrics wrapped around his leg. It was darkened a bit. Blood.

Tsunade's heart thudded, and she felt the same fear she always did when she saw the red fluid. For a moment she could not breathe, she had to squeeze her eyes shut, and force herself to calm down. When she finally did, she opened her eyes, and made a solid effort not to look at the boy again. She locked her gaze on the girl's blue eyes.

She did not know if she could trust this girl, but her inner medic wouldn't let her leave the child injured. She couldn't heal him herself, so she would have to either find a medical center here in Tanzaku, or she could take the two to Shizune, and let her heal the boy. That seemed like a smarter idea, since this was just a tourist town, Tsunade did not think they would have the best of doctors.

Besides, if the girl was dangerous, Tsunade had a feeling she would be better suited to deal with her, than any one else.

Turning on her heel, Tsunade motioned for the girl to follow, "Come on."

As she walked, she noticed that it took the girl a few seconds to actually follow, but she did. Tsunade led them back to the hotel, watching the girl out of the corner of her eye, trying to read her body language, and chakra levels. She didn't see or sense anything malicious. The girl's body language said she was tired, lost, but somehow a bit happy. The boy just clung to the girl, his head resting on her shoulder, his eyes closed.

Tsunade ignored the stares she got when she led the two into the hotel, brushing off any questions that the staff may have asked. It was a pretty upscale hotel, not the most expensive, but it wasn't the type of place that clients brought in people off of the streets.

When she entered the room she shared with Shizune, she was nearly plowed over. The dark haired woman was clearly upset that Tsunade had left her there, and for a minute or to Tsunade actually let the woman rant, before silencing her. She motioned for the girl to come into the room, and pointed the boy out to Shizune. "He needs a doctor."

Shizune stared at the boy for a moment, clearly unsure. "O-okay..."

Tsunade turned to the girl, "Let Shizune take him, you and I need to talk."

The girl just stared at her, a completely confused look on her face. She chewed on her bottom lip, and averted her eyes. After a moment, she looked up, "I don't understand Japanese."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, she hadn't recognized the girl's accent before, but to think the girl couldn't Japanese. "What?"

"I don't understand Japanese.... English?"

Tsunade continued to stare at her. English was a word she didn't know. She couldn't place it, and decided to ignore it, instead, she motioned for Shizune to take the boy, "You," She pointed at the girl, "Follow me."

"Um.. ah..." The girl gave Shizune a slightly untrusting look, glancing at Tsunade. She only let the dark haired woman take the boy, when Tsunade nodded.

Finally, Shizune took the boy, and spoke to him quietly, "Hello,"

He opened his eyes, and Tsunade and Shizune both saw that he was blind. They were shocked by that, but not nearly as much by the fact that he opened his mouth and started to talk.

"I'm hungry." He said, as though it was the common thing to say to someone he had just met.

"How did you get hurt?" Shizune asked, sitting him on the table.

"The bad man." Was all he would say.

Tsunade's eyes narrowed, but she grasped the girl by the arm, and led her into the bathroom. She closed the door, and turned to look at the girl.

The girl was standing near the toilet, clutching a white book to her chest. She kept glancing at the door behind Tsunade, obviously trying to hear the muffled sounds of Shizune talking to the boy.

"What's your name?" Tsunade asked, speaking slowly, as one would a very small child.

The girl paused, and stared for a moment, before she spoke, "Green, Alyssa."

Tsunade said the name, trying to sound it out. It was the strangest name she had ever heard, and considering who she was, and what she was, she had heard quite a few strange names. Shinobi tended to pick some weird things to be called, especially those who thought they were 'invincible.' She also knew performers chose strange names, 'stage names.' "What's your real name?"

The girl was obviously very confused by this question. She was opening her book, and searching through it, looking for something. "My real name... Green, Alyssa."

Tsunade decided to move on to a new subject, after she tried several more times with the name thing, "Where are you from?"

"America." This answer came out immediately, but Tsunade had never heard of the place. She asked for 'Alyssa' to specify.

Alyssa blinked, and mouthed the words that Tsunade had said, before glancing in her book again, then "Maryland."

If 'America' had meant nothing to Tsunade, 'Maryland', meant even less. She was about to ask another question, when Alyssa spoke.

"You..... paper?" She was chewing her lip again, she gave an apologetic look to Tsunade, but shrugged her shoulders. "Pencil?"

Sighing, and feeling very frustrated, Tsunade opened the bathroom door, and left the room, Alyssa following closely. When they walked into the main room, Tsunade was glad to see the bandages no where to be seen, and that the Shizune was just finishing healing his wound. No blood in sight.

Letting out her relief, via a sigh, Tsunade crossed the room and went to one of her bags. She pulled out a blank scroll and a pencil.

"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked, as she picked the boy up, and set him on his feet on the floor. He stood next to her for a moment, his hands clutching at Shizune's kimono, his head turning this way and that.

"Shizuka-chan?" Alyssa spoke, her voice quiet, but he heard her. He let go of Shizune, and hurried across the room, almost bumping into a chair, and found Alyssa. She looked down at him with wide blue eyes, "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay!" He said, tugging at her pants, "I'm still hungry, though." He told her.

"The boy speaks Japanese, but the girl doesn't?" Tsunade mused, holding the scroll and pencil.

"She doesn't speak Japanese?" Shizune asked, shocked evident in her voice. She gave Tsunade a confused look, "Are you sure? Maybe she is lying?"

Tsunade shook her head. One thing she knew, was how to tell when someone was lying. If this girl was lying, she was doing a very good job of it. "I don't think so. We'll have to question the boy too."

"He needs to get something to eat," Shizune stated, "I don't think he's eaten anything in a few days, he needs to be cleaned too. From what I could tell, he's lucky his injury wasn't infected."

"Did you ask him anything?"

"I asked who hurt him, but all he kept saying was 'the bad man', when I asked if she had helped hurt him," She motioned to the girl, who was kneeling on the ground, listening to the boy who babbled on about food, "He said no. She was the one who 'helped' him. If she helped him get away from 'the bad man' or just took care of his wound, I couldn't get him to specify."

Tsunade made a low sound in her throat. An acknowledgment that she'd heard what Shizune had said, before getting Alyssa's attention. "Alyssa," She held up the scroll and pencil, then motioned to a chair by the table, "Please, sit."

Alyssa blinked, standing up, lifting the boy into her arms. He wrapped his arms around her neck, his legs around her waist. Alyssa smiled, "Sit?" The way she said, was the way one would tell a dog to be quiet and sit down. It was almost amusing.

She crossed the small amount of space. If she had been listening to their conversation, she didn't show it. Tsunade had watched her listen to the boy babble, and had seen the false smile plastered onto her face. It was the one most adult gave when listening to a child talk in a way they couldn't understand. An almost instinctual reaction, Tsunade presumed, since the girl couldn't possibly be ignorant to the fact that the boy couldn't see. She'd also made small noises, and said 'yes', and 'okay', every now and again, to let the boy know she was listening.

Alyssa sat at the table, moving the boy around to sit in her lap. Tsunade set the scroll down in front of Alyssa, and the pencil next to it. She then tapped the boy one the shoulder, to get his attention.

Once he looked at her, she spoke, "What's your name?"

"Takahashi, Shizuka." He responded, his attention drifting over to where Alyssa's hands were, opening the scroll and drawing on it. He rested a hand on her right arm, and followed it to the table, up her forearm, to her wrist.

"Shizuka-chan," Tsunade said soothingly, "Did Alyssa hurt you?"

He blinked, "No, it was the bad man." He leaned back against Alyssa, she paused in her drawing, to wrap her left arm around him, he sniffled, then looked at Tsunade, well, looked in her general direction, "The bad man hurt me, and Mommy, and Daddy." He told her.

Tsunade nodded, trying to understand it, "Do you remember anything about him?"

Shizuka made a low whine, and turned his face away from her, to bury it into Alyssa's neck. The girl stopped immediately and looked at Shizuka worriedly.

Tsunade sighed, and motioned for Alyssa to continued drawing, "Shizuka-chan, how old are you?"

He gave a mumbled reply, and she asked a second time. It took him a moment, before he let his head turn towards her again, he held up one hand, "Five," He told her, all his fingers up.

Alyssa paused in her drawing to look up a word, then she went back to the scroll she was writing or drawing on.

"How did you meet Alyssa?" Tsunade asked the boy.

He seemed to think this one over for a long minute, then he smiled, "She found me." He told her. "She scared at first."

"Scared you? How?"

"She yelled."

"Yelled?"

"I didn't know what she said. But then she helped me.... and she smells good..." He told her, turning his head up, so he could press the back of it against Alyssa. His smile stayed on his face.

After a few more minutes, of him just sitting there, and Tsunade and Shizune exchanging looks, Alyssa finally put the pencil down. She picked up the scroll and motioned for Tsunade to look at it.

Tsunade knew one thing immediately, Alyssa would never get anywhere as an artist. Her drawings were most stick-figures and squiggles. She had clearly attempted words near them. Her hand writing was horrendous though, barely legible. "What?"

Alyssa shifted the boy in her lap a bit, then began to point at one picture in the corner. "Me." She said, then pointed at a small house in a lower corner, "Home." She followed a dotted line that traveled down to the house from the triangle-skirted stick-figure. Then she stopped half way down, and drew her finger away from the line and to a small stick figure, with a crudely written name over it. "Shizuka."

Tsunade nodded in understanding.... vague, vague understanding.

Alyssa then pointed to the boy in her laps leg, where the injury had been. "Blood." She stated, and made little movements with her fingers over the paper, "Boy hurt?" She tried, sounding it out slowly, and worriedly.

When Tsunade nodded again, she continued. She pointed to a blocky thing on the paper with little circles attached to it, and the word 'car' written over it badly. It had an arrow above it, pointing at the stick figure representing Shizuka. Alyssa's hands began to move quickly. She made Shizuka hold his hand on the paper, two fingers down, to signify him. Then one of her hands over the stick figure of herself, and her other hand a fist, over the car.

"Vrooom, vrooom." She moved her fist forward towards Shizuka's hand, and her other rushed down towards him too. The hand signifying the car went passed, just after, the one for herself knocked the boy's hand down.

Then she pointed to a stick-figure version of a few trees. It had the two stick figures sitting under them, and little question marks all over the place, and the word 'where' written over it.

"Lost." She stated. She pointed to the car, and the house, "Gone."  
She then shrugged her shoulders, "I don't understand..."

Tsunade stared at the girl, the badly drawn 'explanation', then at Shizune, "What do you think?"

Shizune was staring at the girl, as though trying to read her. If she was picking up on anything that Tsunade wasn't, she didn't show it. She reached down and grasped Alyssa's wrist, "Truth?" She asked, slowly.

Alyssa blinked at her, then nodded, "Yes."

Slowly, Shizune pulled away, "Her pulse didn't jump, not at all. It's moving a normal rate, maybe even a bit slow. Do you think she's forcing herself to keep her pulse slow?"

Tsunade turned her gaze on the girl, "Have you eaten anything today?"

The girl blinked and stared for a minute.

"No, I'm hungry." Shizuka replied for Alyssa. "Can we eat now? Please?" He asked, his voice quiet, he seemed suddenly shy.

"Let's get them some food, and then we'll figure it out, hm?" Tsunade stated, and watched as Shizuka got excited, and bounced a bit in Alyssa's lap.

Shizune nodded, and went to the phone in the corner. She ordered something simple to be brought up to their room, and then waited.

Alyssa stayed seated, looking back and forth between the two older women, until Shizuka forcibly took her attention away from them, but tugging on her arms, and beginning to talk to her again. She just nodded, and smiled, and gave the typical 'okay', and 'yes', answers again.

When the room service came, Tsunade set the food out on the table, and waited. The food consisted on onigiri and whatever soup was the special that day. She watched carefully, as Alyssa poured some of the soup into two bowls, then grabbed an onigiri for herself, and one for the boy.

She showed his hands, gently, where the bowl was, "Hot. Okay?"

"Okay." he responded, as she then put the onigiri in his hand. He munched down on it immediately, taking big bites.

Alyssa sniffed the warm soup, and used a chopstick to swish it around and look at the noodles and pieces of meat in it. She tilted her head to the side, and lifted a piece of meat up on shaky chopsticks. She blew on it, then put it in her mouth. She seemed thoughtful, before a smile lit her face, "Great!" She uttered in what appeared to be shock, before she began to fish around for more.

After the two had eaten, Shizune motioned to the beds, because Alyssa, at least, looked exhausted. She wasn't very pleased with the idea of a girl she didn't know, sleeping in her bed, but for the time being, she figured it was probably a good idea.

Alyssa was even more hesitant than Shizune about the whole idea, and it took a few minutes for her to agree. When she finally did, she slipped off her sneakers, and set her bag on the floor by the bed, before laying down, and almost immediately dosing off.

_**To Be Continued.**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I own Alyssa, Shizuka, and the plot, nothing else

**Characters: **Tsunade, OCs, Hokage, Inoichi  
**Rating:** G  
**Word Count:** 3, 517

**Author's Note:** I have to apologize to the immensely long wait for this chapter. I had planned on posting a chapter much sooner than this, but right after Christmas, my computer crashed and I'm still trying to get back all of my important things.

* * *

When she woke, Alyssa noticed things she had missed before she'd fallen asleep. Things that had seemed unimportant, but suddenly were frighteningly obvious. Though she knew that one couldn't go by Tsunade's appearance, she had to wonder if Shizune also used the same technique, it made sense, but she'd never heard that anywhere before, and was unsure if she should count that as important.

She did know, however, that to have at least some vague idea of where in the timeline she was, something as simple as Shizune or Tsunade's age was very important. The question was, how to ask?

It was considered rude to ask a woman her age, Alyssa knew that, but this was a rather important question. She didn't know what year Naruto was placed in, or what type of calender system they used, so she couldn't use that. But being a fanfiction writer, and reader, she had a pretty good knowledge of the character's ages. She could easily use that to figure out where she was in the timeline, which was rather need-to-know information.

So, while she watched Tsunade go through her bag, for what she was sure the second or third time, she tried to think of a polite way to ask someones age. It was possible, she was sure, but to do so with such a limited vocabulary? Not quite so simple.

Finally, when Tsunade had finished going through Alyssa's things, Alyssa just gave up on politeness, and asked out right. She thought for sure Shizune would be upset, but the woman just have her a mildly curious look and answered.

"Ni ju san." (23)

That didn't sound right. She had never been a big fan of Tsunade or Shizune's, but she was pretty sure that Shizune was supposed to be older than that at the beginning of the series. In fact, if she was remembering correctly, she was pretty sure that the dark-haired woman should be closer to around 28 or 29. Which would place her, around four or five years before the series beginning...

Of course, she realized she would have to take into consideration that this was an actual world there was no way to know for sure that the manga and anime were completely accurate. That opened an endless amount of possibilities, she wasn't sure she wanted to think about them, so she decided to ignore them for the moment. There was far to much to think on right at the moment.

Of all her problems, she decided getting home was top priority. To do this, she had to figure out she'd gotten where she was, and how to get back. For that to happen, she thought, glancing at her three companions, she would have to either learn Japanese, or teach them English...

That didn't seem likely.

She supposed, she should start by getting some place safe. She supposed, being with Tsunade and Shizune would be safe... unless she infuriated either, and then she worried how dangerous that could be to her health. Tsunade wasn't exactly known to be calm, or soft-tempered.

"Doko desu ka?" (Where?) She asked, looking at them.

"Doko?" (Where?) Tsunade replied.

Alyssa sighed, and looked around. Her dictionary sat on the table, her fingers itched to pick it up. "Watashi wa doko desu ka?" (Where am I?)

"Tanzaku." Tsunade told her.

Alyssa thought on the word, "Tanzaku... town?" She asked, then looked down. That certainly told her where she was in the plot. She was near the Tsunade Finding Arc. She had never actually sat through the whole thing, and had instead skipped ahead... She was regretting that now.

She listed everything she knew about that point in the series. She knew that Orochimaru and Kabuto would run into Tsunade and Shizune before Naruto. She knew that Tsunade would promise Naruto the necklace she wore, though she didn't know what the terms of it were. She knew that the whole group battled, and destroyed a huge castle.

She didn't think that she wanted to be there... she also didn't want Shizuka to be anywhere near that particular fight, or Orochimaru for that matter. She looked up at Tsunade, "Konohagakure." (Hidden Leaf Village)

Tsunade stared at her, "Iie." (No.)

Alyssa bit her lip. She knew that Tsunade wouldn't agree immediately to going there, but it was the safest place Alyssa could think of. She had at least a basic knowledge of Konoha, she wasn't much interested in going there to early, because she didn't want to be there during the Chuunin Exams, the last thing she needed was to be around when Sound and Sand attacked Konoha... Still.

She would prefer to take her chances there, and possibly just run into an enemy Shinobi in passing, then to somehow meet up with one in a much more close-combat situation. "Konohagakure, kudasai." (Hidden Leaf Village, please.)

Tsunade's eyes narrowed, and Alyssa decided to drop the subject for the time being. For now, she would be content to travel with Tsunade and Shizune, and hopefully would be able to avoid getting caught up in the fight.

Nearly a week passed, a long time for Tsunade and Shizune to stay in a single place, and there was no sign of either Orochimaru, or Naruto. Alyssa wasn't sure what to think of this, and came to the conclusion to just be happy with small favors. She kept up her persistance on Konoha. She would ask randomly, only stopping when Tsunade would glare.

She'd gotten lucky with the fact that Tsunade and Shizune didn't kick her and Shizuka out into the streets, leaving them where they had been before. Shizuka seemed content with the two women, but kept himself nearly glued to Alyssa. The two Kunoichi, took note of this, and whatever they thought about it, they were unable to convey. Alyssa was beginning to wish she'd been born in Japan, instead of America.

During her week with the two women, Alyssa was given many chores and errands. It was obvious that Shizune and Tsunade didn't trust her completely, but the fact that they allowed her to stay with them, was enough for her. Though she could do without playing maid. She was expected to keep the room clean, and help with anything that was needed, and it was also her responsibility to keep Shizuka out of trouble...

Alyssa had never been a very responsible person, the capability was there, but not really the need. At her home, her father did most things, and she was just expected to keep her grades up, and cook dinner every other night. That was the extent of her responsibility -level. She was suddenly bypassing it.

It was in the middle of week two, that Tsunade finally broke on the Konohagakure thing. Alyssa knew it wasn't really her persistent nature that had made Tsunade change her mind, but was actually Shizune who had. While Alyssa couldn't understand what the dark haired woman had said to Tsunade, she was well aware that whatever it was, was the only reason Tsunade agreed to it.

Alyssa had woken up from her sleeping mat on the floor, that she shared with Shizuka, to find Shizune and Tsunade had already packed their things, and were waiting. After Alyssa was up, and ready, they left Tanzaku, much to Alyssa's pleasure.

For four long days and nights, they traveled. Alyssa was finding that her previous love of camping was quickly being lost. She also found that the sandals Shizune had given her, were not as comfortable as her sneakers, when walking long distances. On the second day, despite Shizune's annoyed look, Alyssa put the pair of sandals in her bag, and pulled on her socks and shoes. It felt so wonderful, to her, to wear a piece of her own clothing.

Shizune and Tsunade had provided clean clothing for Alyssa and Shizuka both. Not new clothing, but it was clean. An old kimono, obviously having once belonged to Shizune, was comfortable enough for Alyssa, though a hassle to wear. She didn't know where Shizuka's new clothes came from, and didn't have the desire, nor verbal ability to ask.

On the fifth day of their traveling, the gates of Konohagakure came into view.

Alyssa stood next to Shizuka, Tsunade walking ahead of her, and Shizune behind. She bit her lip to try and contain her excitement.

This was **Konoha**! Just seeing the gates was like seeing some great, historical, landmark. Her grip on Shizuka's hand tightened slightly, and he looked up at her, but she was to busy trying not to squeal. When they passed through the gates, they were stopped by a pair of men, wearing Konoha Forehead protectors, Shinobi. Another squeal tried to escape. She hid it with a cough, and tried not to look anyone in the eye.

She didn't recognize the men, and couldn't help but to glance back at them, when Tsunade began to lead the way to the Hokage's tower. Both were tall, and lithe. Her attention quickly fell to taking in any and all details of her surroundings. Buildings, and people, they passed, all of it seemed to alien, yet so familiar. She spotted the Barbecue place that Team Asuma spent so much time at... the smell coming from was mouthwatering, and she had to bite her tongue to keep from asking if they could stop and eat, before moving forward.

Not long after they had passed the Barbecue place, Alyssa had to stop and pick up Shizuka, who was continuously tugging on her kimono sleeve, saying "Up, Up." In Japanese.

The Hokage building was much bigger than Alyssa had imagined, and walking through it was like walking through a maze. She couldn't help but wonder how anyone ever found their way around the building.

Actually meeting the Hokage was a shocking, and slightly terrifying experience. The shock came first.

She had thought she was somewhere after the Chuunin exams, but this theory was proven wrong, when she saw Sarutobi. He wore the Hokage robes and hat, and appeared to be a bit more serious that she'd seen him in the anime. He greeted Tsunade and Shizune with a familiar air, and his smile to the two of them was warm, and kind. However, after a moment of the three speaking, his expression hardened a bit, and his gaze, now cool and wary, turned to Alyssa.

Alyssa had never felt more so nervous, as she did, when she stood before the Hokage, his eyes seeming to see through her. She couldn't help but to fidget a little, and look at the floor, terrified of making eye-contact.

He looked her up and down, then inspected Shizuka with the same intense gaze. Once he was finished, he said something to Tsunade, and Shizune took Alyssa by the arm.

She told Alyssa to follow her, using words Alyssa had grown quite used to since meeting the women. Shizune left Alyssa in the hall, with an ANBU guard, who seemingly had appeared out of thin air. Alyssa and Shizuka sat in chairs across the hall from the Hokage's office door.

Shizuka tried to start up a conversation with Alyssa, who went about the usual "Yes," "Okay," "Sure," responses to whatever he said. She leaned back, her bag at her feet, her eyes closed. Trying to think of what to do.

She knew that Konoha was one of the less violent villages, but it was still a Shinobi village. The language barrier would make interrogation hard, as she'd learned from spending time with Tsunade and Shizune. She couldn't answer questions she couldn't understand.

Her mind brought up the fanfics she'd read in the past of things like this. The ability to speak the Japanese language, was usually given to Original Characters from her world, via a genjutsu of some form. A long lasting one. Or, she thought, by a medical jutsu that did something to the mind.

She briefly touched her right temple, worried about what would happen. She didn't know what part of her mind dealt with language and things like that, but she didn't want anyone messing with her head, anyway. After all, she rather liked all of her brain functions, and keeping them all up and running, was a really nice idea.

Images from the history channel flashed through her head. Lobotomies, and those who had them done on them. Then, even more horrifying, a terrible scene from some movie with Hannibal Lector, where the man cut someone else's head open, took out a gray, mushy piece of the person's brain, fried it, and ate it!

Alyssa gulped, and tried to keep herself from panicking. She didn't think she would have to worry about cannibalistic tendencies of those here, and she was certainly not going to worry about a Lobotomy. She couldn't deal with that sort of stress, and decided that it was going on the lower levels of problems for the time being.

Konoha, was a much more peaceful village, she told herself. If she had somehow ended up in Orochimaru's hands, she knew she would have to worry about things like that. Or possibly even in a village like Suna, but not here. The anime, and manga, had hinted that Konoha was far less cruel, then the other villages. She grasped at this piece of unproven knowledge as a lifeline.

She was brought out of her thought, by the sound of heavy footsteps. She didn't know how long she'd sat, lost in thoughts, but it didn't matter now. She listened closely to the person walking, and was pretty sure there was someone else with them, who's movements weren't so heavy. She looked up, and towards their direction.

Next to her, Shizuka was pressing himself against her side, one hand grasping her arm, and she pulled up into her lap. She wrapped her arms around his middle, and pulled him back against her, as her eyes stared at the corner. Waiting.

When the two people turned the corner, she had to bit her lip to keep from letting any sound escape.

Ibiki.

She couldn't remember his last name, and really didn't know to much about him. She knew he was the head of Interrogation, and that he had something to do with the ANBU, though she couldn't remember what. She also knew, that he worked with people. Interrogation, meant he could read people. Every little fidget, every little twitch, meant something.

She had known a psychiatrist who could do that. He said you could learn everything from the little subconscious movements a person's face made. He also told her, how it was important to be able to categorize most things. Every little detail was filed into a box, to be analyzed, and picked apart.

She felt Ibiki's dark eyes on her, and knew he'd been doing that since he first spotted her. She bit down hard on her tongue, and tightened her arms around Shizuka. Her eyes drifted past Ibiki, she couldn't bare looking at him any longer, to his companion.

A tall man, with long blond hair, and strong features. It took her a moment longer to realize who he was, though the long blond ponytail was one hell of a tip-off. Yamanaka, Inoshi.

Inoshi. That didn't sound right. Inochi? Inoichi? She couldn't quite remember, he'd only been in a few episodes, and was a very minor character. Add that to the fact that she didn't read many fanfics with Ino as a main character, so the blonde kunoichi's family were never really brought up.

As the two men finally reached them, and knocked on the closed door, she turned her mind away from Yamanaka's first name, and instead turned it to what the man could do. What both these men could do.

There was that lovely fear again.

After a few seconds, the men were called inside, and around fifteen minutes later, Alyssa was called inside as well. She slung her bag's strap over one shoulder, and stood. She didn't bother to put Shizuka down, not quite willing to let him go yet. Instead, she just shifted him, so she could hold him more easily.

She walked into the room, closely followed by the ANBU, and was directed to stand in the center of the room. She glanced at Shizune and Tsunade, who stood close to the Hokage's desk, and gave her reassuring smiles. She wasn't reassured.

Slowly, she set Shizuka down, he stood in front of her, his body pressed back against her, hands gripping hers. She stood as still as she could, fear holding tight, and tried not to move in anyway that could be seen as hostile. She could feel Ibiki and Yamanaka's eyes on her, burning holes through her clothes and skin, as though they could seem deep inside her body to her very soul.

The Hokage spoke, his voice calm, and warm. He was asking Shizuka questions. His name, where he was from, what had happened to him. All of them, Alyssa had heard Tsunade and Shizune ask. Each was given the same answer as always. Takahashi, Shizuka. I don't know. The bad man hurt him.

Hokage tried a few more times, but always got the same reply, so he turned his attention to Alyssa. She gulped, and tried to calm herself down. She told herself she was over reacting. And she knew she was. There was no reason to panic so much, until she was actually given a reason to panic.

"Anata wa nan to iu namae desu ka?" (What's your name?) He asked first.

She paused, before answering. "Green, Alyssa."

He nodded, then asked something far more complicated. She blinked, and tried to decipher any of the words he'd said. "Nani?" (What?)

He tried again, but she still couldn't understand him. She gave Tsunade a pleading look, and the woman walked over to her. She snatched Alyssa's bag, and opened the flap. For a second she dug through it, then grabbed the dictionary out of it. She pointed to the words on the cover, then made Alyssa take the book.

Alyssa began to open the book, only for Tsunade to slap her fingers, and point at the words again. She said a word that Alyssa didn't recognize, then pointed at Alyssa's lips.

"You want me to talk?" Alyssa asked in English. Her native language felt so good on her lips,. and it was so nice to be able to say a full sentence without worrying if she was translating correctly.

"Green-san?" (Miss Green?)

She turned her gaze to the Hokage, who had just spoken, "Hai?" (Yes?)

"Anata no shusshin wa doko desu ka?" (Where are you from?) He gave her a sweet smile, and it soothed her a bit. He suddenly made her think of some grandfather, trying to calm down a crying child.

She licked her lips, and blew her bangs out of her face, "Maryland, United States Of America."

He mouthed the words she'd said, then nodded. He motioned to Yamanaka to come forward, and spoke quietly with the blonde man for a few seconds.

When Yamanaka straightened, he turned to Alyssa. His face was serious, a bit tense. Like he had a lot on his mind. He motioned for her to follow him, as he made his way to the door. She went to follow, pulling Shizuka with her, but he stopped, and told Shizuka something. Glancing at Shizune, when the boy threw a fit.

The dark haired woman came forward, and calmed Shizuka down as best she could, trying to lead him away from Alyssa. This only made things worse, and the boy turned and clung to Alyssa's legs, starting to cry.

Alyssa knelt down, and wiped Shizuka's eyes. She didn't want to be separated from him either, but if Yamanaka only wanted to speak with her, then she wasn't going to put up a fight. That would make things worse. She patted his shoulders, and hugged the boy close, "Daijobu, Shizuka-chan." (It's okay, Shizuka.) She told him, trying to keep her own voice calm.

When he finally let Shizune pull him away, Alyssa quickly followed Yamanaka out of the room. The second the door to the Hokage's office closed behind her, she felt the panic seize her again, she started to shake, as she followed the man down the hall.

They went down several flights of stairs, until the windows stopped, and everything was lit by fluorescent lights.

He took her to a small room. It was furnished only with a table, two chairs, and a lamp. She thought of the interrogation rooms shown in cop shows. He motioned for her to take a seat, and she did, hesitantly. He took the seat opposite of her, and watched for a moment.

She was tense, hands fisted in her kimono, eyes down on the table. Staring intensely at the dark wood, trying to keep herself from hyperventilating, she missed Yamanaka's movements. He made several hand seals, and she only looked up when he had pressed his hands to her head.

A wave of dizziness hit her, and the room blurred and spun. Everything went black.

_**To Be Continued.**_


End file.
